West Alexandria, Ohio

As of the census[2] of 2010, there were 1,340 people, 551 households, and 371 families residing in the village. The population density was 2,000.0 inhabitants per square mile (772.2/km2). There were 611 housing units at an average density of 911.9 per square mile (352.1/km2). The racial makeup of the village was 96.4% White, 1.0% African American, 0.1% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.1% from other races, and 1.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.4% of the population.

There were 551 households of which 35.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.5% were married couples living together, 16.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 32.7% were non-families. 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.96.

The median age in the village was 37.8 years. 25.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.8% were from 25 to 44; 25.1% were from 45 to 64; and 14.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 47.7% male and 52.3% female.

List of ghost towns in the United States

Yellow Springs, Ohio

Yellow Springs is a village in Greene County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,487 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is home of Antioch College and Antioch University Midwest.

In 1825, the village was founded by William Mills and approximately 100 families, followers of Robert Owen, who wanted to emulate the utopian community at New Harmony, Indiana. The communitarian efforts dissolved due to internal conflicts. The Little Miami Railroad was completed in 1846 and brought increased commerce, inhabitants, and tourism. The village was incorporated in 1856.[4]

Antioch College was founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection, and began operating in 1853 with the distinguished scholar Horace Mann as its first president. In 1920, Arthur E. Morgan became the innovative president of Antioch College, implementing a much-imitated work-study program for students. An engineer by training, Morgan left Antioch to become head of the Tennessee Valley Authority in Franklin D. Roosevelt's Administration. Upon his return to Yellow Springs, Morgan was a key leader of Quaker intentional community developments in Ohio and North Carolina. Antioch College was closed by Antioch University in 2008 but reopened, as an independent college, in 2011.[5]

Keehner Park

Keehner Park is a public park located in West Chester, Ohio. The park is locally renown as a location for various community events, such as free concerts and outdoor performances. The park offers playgrounds, picnic shelters, athletic and sport areas, walking trails, and several additional utilities.[1]

Voter approval to use funding from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources resulted in the creation of Keehner park in 1976. The park is named after a local farming family that existed in the early days of West Chester.[1] Keehner Park is the current home of a reconstructed[3] 1833 log cabin, relocated to the park from Preble County in 1990.[4]

Keehner Park frequently serves as host to a variety of community events. One of the more well known events is the West Chester Concert Series. Sponsored by Fifth Third, the event occurs each Saturday in the park's amphitheater, featuring performances by a variety of local music groups.[5] Historically the park has hosted nature education programs; stargazing; Easter egg hunts; Halloween events with wagon rides, petting zoos, haunted trails,[6] costume contests, and other autumn themed attractions; seasonal decorations of the log cabin; and other annual events.[7]

Wheelersburg, Ohio

Wheelersburg is a census-designated place (CDP) in Scioto County, Ohio, United States. It lies along the northern banks of the Ohio River in southern Ohio. Wheelersburg is approximately 7 miles (11 km) east of Portsmouth and 14 miles (23 km) west of Ironton. It is in Porter Township. The population was 6,437 at the 2010 census.[3]

Wheelersburg was originally called Concord, and under the latter name was platted in 1824.[4] The present name honors Major Porter Wheeler, a pioneer settler.[4] By 1833, Wheelersburg had about 150 inhabitants.[5] A post office called Wheelersburgh was established in 1879, and the name was changed to Wheelersburg in 1893.[6]

Wheelersburg suffered an F5 (maximum wind speeds of 261–318 miles per hour) tornado on April 23, 1968, in which seven people were killed and 93 people injured, costing nearly $5 million in damages. Wheelersburg is below the Ohio state average for tornado activity, however.[8]

Youngstown, Ohio

Youngstown is a city in and the county seat of Mahoning County in the U.S. state of Ohio, with small portions extending into Trumbull County. According to the 2010 Census, Youngstown had a city proper population of 66,982, while the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area it anchors contained 565,773 people in Mahoning and Trumbull counties in Ohio, and Mercer County in Pennsylvania.

Youngstown is located on the Mahoning River, approximately 65 miles (105 km) southeast of Cleveland and 61 miles (100 km) northwest of Pittsburgh. Despite having its own media market, Youngstown is often included in commercial and cultural depictions of both Northeast Ohio as well as the Greater Pittsburgh Region due to these proximities. Youngstown is also the midway between New York City and Chicago via Interstate 80.

The city was named for John Young, an early settler from Whitestown, New York, who established the community's first sawmill and gristmill. Youngstown is in a region of America that is often referred to as the Rust Belt. Traditionally known as a center of steel production, Youngstown was forced to redefine itself when the U.S. steel industry fell into decline in the 1970s, leaving communities throughout the region without major industry. The city has experienced a decline of over 60% of its population since 1959. Youngstown also falls within the Appalachian Ohio region, among the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

West Jefferson, Ohio

West Jefferson is a village in Madison County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,222 at the 2010 census. Located along U.S. Route 40, the village has a fairly close relationship with the surrounding township, which include various out-of-corporation-limit neighborhoods (including Haymarket Road, Olmstead Road, Forrest Lake Estates, Goodson Road/Enchanted Valley, and North and South Road). The village has a "Commerce Park" at its western edge which includes a Target Distribution Center, a Krazy Glue factory, and Jefferson Industries.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 4.87 square miles (12.61 km2), of which 4.85 square miles (12.56 km2) is land and 0.02 square miles (0.05 km2) is water.[1]

As of the census[2] of 2010, there were 4,222 people, 1,617 households, and 1,149 families residing in the village. The population density was 870.5 inhabitants per square mile (336.1/km2). There were 1,709 housing units at an average density of 352.4 per square mile (136.1/km2). The racial makeup of the village was 97.6% White, 0.5% African American, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.9% of the population.

Whitehouse, Ohio

As of the census of 2010, there were 4,149 people, 1,524 households, and 1,145 families residing in the village.[3] The population density was 967.1 inhabitants per square mile (373.4/km2). There were 1,591 housing units at an average density of 370.9 per square mile (143.2/km2). The racial makeup of the village was 96.4% White, 0.9% African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.6% from other races, and 1.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.3% of the population.

There were 1,524 households of which 38.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.2% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 24.9% were non-families. 21.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.11.

The median age in the village was 39 years. 27.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.6% were from 25 to 44; 29.6% were from 45 to 64; and 12% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 48.6% male and 51.4% female.

Zanesville, Ohio

Zanesville was named after Ebenezer Zane (1747–1811), who had blazed Zane's Trace, a pioneer trail from Wheeling, Virginia (now in West Virginia) to Maysville, Kentucky through present-day Ohio. In 1797, he remitted land as payment to his son-in-law, John McIntire (1759–1815), at the point where Zane's Trace met the Muskingum River. With the assistance of Zane, McIntire platted the town, opened an inn and ferry by 1799. In 1801, Zanesville was officially renamed, formerly Westbourne, the chosen name for the settlement by Zane.

From 1810–1812, the city was the second state capital of Ohio.[7] The National Road courses through Zanesville as U.S. Route 40. The city grew quickly in the 1820s–1850s. In excess of 5,000 Union soldiers, along with hundreds of townsfolk, were stationed in the Zanesville area to protect the city in 1863 during Morgan's Raid. Novelist Zane Grey, a descendant of the Zane family, was born in the city.

The city increased, largely because of factories producing pottery, bricks, glassware, ball-bearings, soap, steel and many other products from the 1880s until the mid-1950s. The city had a booming downtown economy and increase in the northern area of the town. By the 1950s many factories had closed or moved. Pottery, a major industrial employer, slowly waned in demand because of cheaper Asian companies. During the 1950s until the 1980s nearly one-third of the population abandoned the city . By the 1990s the city/county opened industrial parks and several housing developments were built in the northern parts of the city.

West Lafayette, Ohio

West Lafayette was laid out in 1850 by Robert Shaw and William Wheeler.[4][5] In 1855, the Steubenville and Indiana Railroad was built through the new town. The line became known as the Panhandle Route and was operated in the Pennsylvania Railroad[6] system and currently by the Columbus and Ohio River Railroad (Ohio Central Railroad System). Tragedy struck this track on September 11, 1950 when the crack passenger train "Spirit of St. Louis" hit another train carrying 600 men of the 109th Field Artillery Battalion of the Pennsylvania National Guard.[7] 33 men were killed. A memorial was placed near the site of the accident in 1990. A 105mm howitzer is at the memorial also, commemorating the manufacture of 105mm shells at Moore Enamelling across the tracks during WWII.

The village was once known as the "Enamel Center of the World".[8] Before plastics were invented, steel vessels covered with a ceramic called enamelware were the norm in American homes. In 1903 the Lafayette Stamping and Enameling Co. was founded. Moore Enameling and Jones Metal also manufactured enamelware. Jones Metal remains. Another industry is Yankee Wire, manufacturer of wire screens.

The village is built upon a level plain in the Tuscarawas River valley and is surrounded by forested hills and agricultural valleys. The Ohio Central Railroad passes through the town. Immediately north of the village is U.S. Route 36. Both of these are major arteries connecting Columbus with points east.